Princess turned 15 this past weekend. And we managed to have a party with no “extra” money spent! Proud mama moment here!

I used our weekly “allowance” to cover the costs of snacks and decorations…

I also purchased various personal hygiene items over the past couple of months with our regularly budget monies. And wrapped them as presents…razors, shaving gel, lotion, face mask, etc. By doing it a little at a time and purchasing items that I would typically purchase for her anyways, it didn’t come as a big shock and she had something to unwrap.

We invited her 3 ‘bestest’ friends over for the night…and instead of pizza, they chose to hit up McDonalds for dinner…$26.

Saturday we drove an hour to the closest mall, and they spent an hour wandering around and ‘shopping.’ They each had their own money for this portion of the ‘party.’

And then a final stop at my favorite park there, where you can purchase duck food for a quarter and feed the ducks. I think we spent $2-3 there.

Finally, that night, as is our family tradition…Princess and I went out to eat at the local Cracker Barrel, her choice, where she opened the gifts from family. We spent $24 there. (The twins are out of town for their school break or they would have been with us.)

We had a fantastic time. She was thrilled with her ‘party’ and her gifts. And all of it was done for less then our $200 weekly cash allowance that covers food, entertainment, etc. Lesson learned…one child is definitely cheaper than 4!

And in two days…I will have another driver in the house…YIKES! Permit here comes Princess!